Bloodbath
by suspensewriter
Summary: What if Jarod realized he had no other course of action?


The Pretender and the characters in it do not belong to me. It's supposed to belong to NBC and those who wrote it, plus the television stations who carried the show. This is a what if story and has nothing to do with my other novels about the Pretender and by the way the copyright of the characters I create belong to me.  
  
See after the story for reply to the review.  
  
What if, Jarod decided to do something about the Centre and overcome his not wanting to kill? BLOODBATH  
  
It had been years since Jarod had escaped, and Miss Parker was still alone. Oh yes, she found out that baby brother was not exactly her baby brother, but that did not help knowing that she could not acknowledge her son.  
  
She still pursued Jarod. She had heard Major Charles had died and so had Margaret of natural causes, although she suspected that the Centre made it hard for the old man to get his heart medicine and that Margaret's stroke was also aggravated by her not getting the proper care. So far, Emily was still alive, but she too was doomed to being single and so she made her choice to become a nun, forgoing a career in the theater.  
  
Jarod, it appeared, had lost more than his chance to begin a family. The Major Charles clan, it seemed, was now finished.  
  
Raines was still alive, hanging on by a thread, or rather he would have been hanging on by a thread if he was allowed to stay in a hospital bed, but the Centre and the Triumvirate did so many operations, heart transplant, liver transplant, hip replacements, etc., that one wondered what remained in him was original.  
  
They found Mr. Parker who now old, and mean, still stood at the head of the Centre. He was relentless in wanting Jarod back, even though it was ten years into the century. He was disappointed with Lyle, his marriages had been short because his brides had died or disappeared mysteriously. The Parker clan, except for the child which he ignored because of the father. Why he allowed them to use Jarod's sperm was beyond him? All for having a Pretender child with the Parker gene.  
  
Miss Parker knew she would never have a child, not even by the removal of some of her eggs. She was now in her late forties, too late to have a child without medical problems, the year was 2010 and she also knew that Jarod who was almost her same age, unless he met a young thing, would also die childless. The Centre made sure of that with its relentless pursuits.  
  
The only child he had was baby brother and in order to save the child's life, Miss Parker could not tell of the boy's origins.  
  
Baby brother was now eleven and thanks to the intervention of a man of God, free from the curse. He had dark hair and his eyes were a combination of his father and mother. He was in a quandary, not given a first name, so he called himself Jamie Parker. He knew his parentage, (after all he was also a Pretender) and combined parts of his parents' names, Ja for Jarod and Mi for Miss Parker.  
  
However, being a Pretender meant he could be confined in the sublevels, and right now his days of freedom (although limited within the confines of the Centre grounds were coming to an end.)  
  
His freedom had been transitory. He was just about to go to Midnight Mass when Sam blocked his way to the front door. "Mr. Parker says you are to stay in from now on, Young Mr. Parker."  
  
"What, do you mean I can no longer go to the Church?" he asked a rather grey haired Sam.  
  
"Your father does not wish it."  
  
"He is not my father!"  
  
"To you, he is. Mr. Parker is the head of the Centre and we all must obey him. Come, I'll take you to your new room." Sam got ready to grab the young man, but Jamie was quicker.  
  
He threw a punch which landed Sam in his solar plexus and ran down the corridor, hid behind one of the doors, and when Sam went looking for him elsewhere, darted past him and out the front door and to his mother's house.  
  
"Jamie what are you doing here?" she asked.  
  
"I need help, mother."  
  
"Mother?"  
  
"I know you aren't allowed to say it, but we are mother and son. I must get in touch with my real father."  
  
Miss Parker shook her head. "I'm supposed to go after him. Right now, I'm getting ready for the pursuit. I can't take you along. You're supposed to be safe at the Centre."  
  
"I heard they plan to put me in Sublevel 27."  
  
Miss Parker gasped and then recovered.. "Okay Jamie, I have an extra gun. Broots has found Jarod's lair, but we can't leave yet."  
  
"Why not mother?"  
  
"Because it's close to midnight and Jarod usually phones. So far, we have traded information."  
  
Sure enough five minutes later, the phone rang.  
  
"Hello Miss Parker missed me?" asked Jarod.  
  
"Really if you came back home, there wouldn't be much to miss."  
  
"Did you ever miss starting a family? I did." Jarod got ready to hang up the phone when he heard the voice in the background.  
  
"Tell father the Centre wants to lock me in the sublevels," said Jamie, his voice loud enough for Jarod to hear over the phone.  
  
"We cannot be together," said Miss Parker, after glaring daggers at her son.  
  
"And whose fault is that Miss Parker?" He then hung up.  
  
Miss Parker got ready for bed. Broots had said he was visiting his daughter and her new husband and their baby son. She rather resented that. Even the nerd had a happy life, while she who should have been with the man she loved, was still alone. The Centre made sure of that, keeping her away from happiness.  
  
She checked the alarm, saw that Jamie got the spare bedroom, and went to bed.  
  
In the morning, she woke up and got ready to begin the day. She made a call to Sydney but go no reply, but expected none. Sydney was probably spending his nights in the Centre. His arthritis was acting up constantly and even the Centre doctors could not cure it. He had a bed in his office and a full time nurse. He now stayed in the car and only poked his head out to persuade Jarod to come home when they went on the pursuits.  
  
"You stay low, Jamie," she said, "I'm going to work."  
  
"What'll you say about me?"  
  
"That I called your friends's houses, but you were not there. Don't worry." She got into her car and drove to the large spread over building.  
  
Unaware that Jamie had sneaked into the back seat, she got out and walked up the steps to the Centre, expecting to hear the buzz of the morning activities but there were none.  
  
"Sydney!" she called, looking in his office.  
  
Miss Parker then looked into her father's office, but almost slipped on something wet on the floor as she went in. She got up, and saw a red stain on her skirt. It smelled very familiar.  
  
Carefully she turned on the lights to see Mr. Parker lying face down near the door with still fresh blood pouring from his neck. He was dead.  
  
Shuddering she closed the door, drew her gun, and looked into Raines's office. He too had met a similar fate only his head was placed rather neatly on his desk and his body was strapped to a chair with the oxygen tank besides it.  
  
This was a sick joke! She turned to see Jamie behind her. "Get out of her and call the police!"  
  
"I can't mother. They might kill me!"  
  
Of course, the boy thought they were after him as well. "All right, but keep to my side and don't go off on your own. Whoever is here will want to kill you."  
  
In the course of time, they discovered more bodies mostly higher staff, sweepers, and cleaners. They tried to avoid the stairs, now seeped with blood and the elevators for when they opened the doors, a body would fall out.  
  
She finally found Sydney, dead of a bullet hole to his heart, his eyes opened with surprise and disappointment and with that, she knew who was responsible.  
  
"Jarod," she cried, "Did you have to do this?"  
  
Jarod came from the sublevel elevator, his gun still smoking, his knife caked with blood, and his face quite stern. "Yes to protect my son and them." He pointed to those behind him, the other captive children and older Pretenders now for the first time would see the sun and smell fresh air.  
  
"At last, we're truly free," he said and took both Miss Parker and his son into his arms.  
  
The End  
  
For the only reviewer who did not want me to kill Sydney. I figured doing so would show Jarod's frustration about the years he was in captivity, and finding that his own son will experience the same fate. Sydney partially protected him, but Sydney did not help him escape from the Centre and Jarod knew that his former trainer if he was allowed to train his son would not help him to escape. Jarod had to kill all the people in the Centre, even the good ones. If Broots were there, he would have died as well.  
  
Often times, evil organizations employ so called good men to help them in their cause. Actually as this is a what if story and is a short story, not to be continued. It is entirely different from the series of stories(which are on the Restricted section) I already am writing in which if I decided Sydney is going to die, it will either be from a heart attack, cancer, old age, or an accident. .  
  
As for the Parker baby being Jarod's son, I always suspected it. Only in my other stories, his name is not Jamie and he's not Jarod and Miss Parker's only child. 


End file.
